Sample sessions: July

What has been worn, and what I am reaching for next

Hello and welcome to July’s sample sessions, highlighting some of the fragrances I met this month. Some are new releases, some are new to me, and all are reviewed with honesty (meaning some I omit, because if you haven’t got anything nice to say…etc.)

This month saw me get better acquainted with British brand Sarah Baker, trial the new Gucci Flora, relish in Burberry roses, ‘smell like a marshmallow’, according to a friend, and work my way through The Perfume Society’s Summer samples box, noting my favourites below. I was supposed to attend a conversation with Marc-Antoine Barrois on Wednesday, which would have added a few more to this, however I was chained to my desk with an increasing to-do list, so I’ll be meeting his scents in future instead. I have heard plenty good things about Aldebaran.

As I step into my new role at Country Life magazine in the next few weeks (me, Acting Luxury Editor!), I will be meeting many people, seeing many things, and will be sharing my fragrance and fashion experiences as much as I can here. I hope you stay with me for the ride.

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Peach’s revenge (extrait) by Sarah Baker, £125 for 50ml
Included in the Perfume Society’s Summer Box of seasonal samples, and an absolute triumph. Juicy, tangy, boozy and bright. I have smelled it before, but nothing compares to what it is like on the skin, especially in the warmth of the summer. You get a notable hit of guava on the opening— just the right side of tropical and slightly creamy. Then comes the amaretto, deep and sweet and delicious. Cinnamon and caramel help to turn this into a full on peach tart experience, before it settles with a gentle musk and warm bark, like a peach tree hot after a day in the sun. Glorious.

Riders (extrait) by Sarah Baker, £125 for 50ml
This is an animalic rush as soon as it hits your skin, warm and mightily sweaty. White flowers and green leaves follow, fresh, bright and crisp. I couldn’t distinguish it at first, but it is lily of the valley, ‘crunching’ beneath the hoofs of your pony. There are strong hay notes, bringing their distinct golden dryness, which I am incresingly fond of. I was unsure of Riders at first, but as it warms up with your skin it becomes deeper with amber and leather and a little smokiness, settling in with fir and musk. It hits the nail on the narrative head, as you really can imagine yourself emerging from a horse ride all sweaty and exhilarated. It has incredible staying power, too. I would have loved to have a little more peach and maybe a nut in there.

Tartan cask (extrait) by Sarah Baker, £125 for 50ml
This is very peaty, with a strong purple flower— I thought maybe thistle or heather, and indeed it was the latter— and slightly medicinal, which I noted may be licorice but is actually from the mix of herbs, hops and labdanum. It is very smoky, like dry woods and mosses burning on a campfire, stark yet somehow comforting in its recognition. Again, I wasn’t sure at first, but after letting it settle, it really grew on me, and I savoured it in the way one savours a whisky by the fire. A good one for autumn and winter, or a cool rainy day in summer.

Rose ember by Burberry, part of the Signatures extreme botanicals collection, £210 for 100ml
I was making a swift exit from the luminous lights of Selfridges beauty hall when a presentation of perfectly ribboned, pastel hued, precisely positioned bottles printed with the word BURBERRY caught my eye. I told myself I didn’t have time and I said to the staff working on the concession that I didn’t have time. Perhaps just one… I went straight for Rose ember, the newest release, and almost had to steady myself from the experience. I do love a rose, and this was beautiful. Inspired by the resilience of the desert rose, it is both rich and dry, with sun-warmed saffron and deep pink rose, gently spiced by the woodiness of sandalwood. It isn’t overt or complex, instead, quietly opulent, the kind of scent that makes you go oooh as you bury your nose in your wrist again.

Rebel rose by Who is Elijah, £125 for 100ml
A balance of rich and warm, dusky and something a little electric. Turkish rose, deep and slightly sweet, spiced with incense and warmed by amber, vanilla and oud, which give it a resinous, woody characteristic (I was convinced there was agarwood in there, but there isn’t a wood note mentioned). On my skin, it becomes more soapy as it dries, enlivened by a shot of parma violets running right through it— unsurprising in theory, as violet happens to be one of the heart notes and white musk rests at the bottom, but surprising in practice, because it started off so peppery and warm. It sits well on the skin and lasted a good 5 hours on me.

Ultima storia by Thomas de Monaco, £230 for 50ml
Another from The Perfume Society’s Summer sample box, a brand I had never previously heard of, and a semi-sweet, citrussy scent that I rather enjoyed. It opens with a very obvious pear note, bright and juicy, coupled with fresh citrus oils. I thought there was a touch of cherry in there, led by the bakewell sweetness of almond. Orris is the only flower mentioned in the notes, but it plays among the fruits and feels more like a mixed bouquet than the sultry single note. It then goes deeper into the lemon— rich and juicy, but lively and bright, like an undercurrent of Fanta limon. Soft cedarwood holds it down, before it dries to something creamier, like lemon peel, and powdery (talcum is one of the base notes). Well worth seeking out, as I will be doing for the other scents.

Flora gorgeous gardenia intense by Gucci, currently £145 for 100ml
This is a wonderful tribute to gardenia, the opulent white flower with a creamy coconutty undertone that tends to bring a tropical touch— and here it does. Though it is bolder and stronger than its non-intense counterpart, it blooms around you rather than surging toward you like other ‘intense’ scents sometimes do. There is a zingy hit from light and juicy mandarin, and an engaging, spiced woodiness, like an incense stick dipped in water. Longevity is good, and I am so pleased the bottle has been upgraded to translucent coloured glass, because I wasn’t big on the solid flacons, despite liking what was in them.

Buongiorno by Acqua di Parma, £143 for 50ml
I was desperate to try this to see how they used/interpreted spearmint. It opens with a very light green basil before a bounty of sun-dappled leaves unfold on the skin, as if you have just picked them and are crushing them within your palms. The spearmint can be found in the moments between the basil and the bounty, nestling in quietly as the scent dries down. It then turns into an aromatic citrus— lemon balm and natural lavender, petitgrain and something almost mango-like. A lovely pick-me-up, though it doesn’t last long on the skin.

Delina exclusif by Parfums de Marley, £295 for 75ml
Another from The Perfume Society’s Summer Box, and one I wasn’t too fussed about at first, but kept on returning to and ended up liking more each time I did. I haven’t tried the original Delina, but I understand that this is slightly sweeter, more intense, and perhaps better as a day-to-evening scent than the original. It welcomes you with bright lychee and pear, before sweet and sugary rose (so powdery! so princessy!) quietly but unabashedly showers you all over. Pink pepper and a very subtle spice coming from woods and incense add a little liveliness, but do little to reign in the petals. It performs well in terms of longevity. If you want to smell like Marie Antoinette, I suggest you head to PdM.

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I’m planning to do a feature of people’s favourite summer scents from 2025, so please let me know what you have been indulging in.

Amie Elizabeth

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